Burrs, raised or frayed edges of material often result from machining operations such as grinding, drilling, milling, engraving, and turning. In many cases, it is necessary or preferred to remove these burrs, a process known as deburring, as the presence of burrs can lead to increased wear on the parts involved, leading to frequent replacement, or even preventing the parts from working as intended.
Burrs formed in drilled holes can cause fastener and material problems. Burrs can lead to concentrated stress at the edges of holes, thereby decreasing the material's resistance to fracture. Burrs also increase the friction and heat between moving parts. In addition, burrs can interfere with the proper placement of fasteners, and can also lead to corrosion. Furthermore, the sharp edges of many burrs tend to concentrate electric charge and can lead to spontaneous electronic discharge.
One technique for removing burrs, known as manual deburring, involves the use of a handheld tool, such as a power drill, to remove the burrs. The tool can be a file, grinding disk, grinding stone, grinding tool, sand paper, or the like which is used to file down the burrs. Manual deburring is often time and labor intensive.
In many instances, deburring accounts for a large amount of manufacturing costs. In addition to manual deburring, there are currently several deburring processes including: mass-finishing, spindle finishing, media blasting, sanding, grinding, wire brushing, abrasive flow machining, electrochemical deburring, electropolishing, thermal energy method, machining, and cryogenic. Unfortunately these processes are either expensive, messy, and/or require large equipment.
What is needed is a way to deburr that is more efficient than current manual deburring methods, but does not require the expensive equipment and/or materials of today's current deburring processes such as mill bastard files, grinders, and sanders. It would also be beneficial if this method could be conducted solely using a handheld power drill, without the need of a vice.